Mastercard and Major League Baseball Celebrate All-Star Game With Extended Partnership And Launch Of Home Team Advantage Contest For Small Businesses

By AIT News Desk On Jul 13, 2021

Small Business winners in Atlanta, Boston and Los Angeles will be awarded with $10,000, Digital Doors toolkit , and in-stadium assets to grow their businesses as well as a trip to the World Series

Mastercard and Major League Baseball (MLB) announced a multi-year extension of their partnership and Mastercard’s ongoing role as Presenting Sponsor of the All-Star Game. This builds on Mastercard’s more than 20-year history of delivering Priceless experiences and innovation to baseball fans in stadiums as well as across MLB viewing channels.

“While small businesses had to contend with extreme challenges throughout the pandemic, they demonstrated exceptional resilience and determination in the process”

Through the partnership, Mastercard is also providing MLB fans with enhanced payment technologies at the game and throughout the season by working closely with MLB, point-of-sale providers and concessionaires in stadiums. Mastercard and MLB will work together to support a contactless and cashless environment through the integration of touchless contactless point of sale systems and reverse ATMs, as well as provide an enhanced e-commerce checkout experience with on MLB digital platforms (MLB.TV, Tickets.com and MLBshop.com). Leveraging Mastercard technology, MLB enhanced the 2021 MLB All-Star Game ballot voting by deploying Mastercard’s NuDetect® fraud detection technology to ensure a seamless and accurate count throughout the two-phase fan-voting process.

Mastercard and MLB continue to team up to provide consumers Priceless experiences that unlock exclusive access and bring fans closer to their passions both at home as well as in-person. Further, as both longstanding partners of Stand Up To Cancer® (SU2C), Mastercard and MLB work together to deliver Priceless experiences that help consumers give back and help fund groundbreaking cancer research. Priceless experiences launched in support of Stand Up To Cancer leading up to the All-Star Game include, but are not limited to:

The Mastercard Ballpark Sensory Experience: A multi-sensory unboxing experience that brings the sight, sound, taste, touch and scent of legendary MLB ballparks into your home for the ultimate at-home baseball fan experience. Plus, bid in our auction for once-in-a-lifetime in-stadium Priceless experiences too. 100% of the purchase amount to be donated to SU2C to help cancer research. For more information
Field of Dreams™ Experience: Win an overnight stay for four at the original farmhouse used to film Field of Dreams™ in Dyersville, Iowa, on August 12, 2021, during the MLB at Field of Dreams presented by Geico between the Yankees and White Sox. Experience provides guided access to the original filming locations from the 1989 Universal Pictures film and the new MLB field to take in the game. 100% of the purchase amount to be donated to SU2C to help cancer research. For more information
Digital Stand Up To Cancer Placard: Consumers can join the MLB All-Star Game placard moment virtually on July 13^th to honor those affected by cancer by displaying a digital SU2C placard that will be made available to use on Snapchat.

“Mastercard has been an incredible partner to Major League Baseball for more than two decades and we take a lot of pride in this great relationship that we’ve forged together,” said Noah Garden, MLB Chief Revenue Officer. “The partnership between Mastercard and MLB has truly evolved over the years as technology and our fans’ habits have evolved. Mastercard helped us bring new payment technologies to the forefront for our fans over the years and we are going to continually innovate this space together for the benefit of baseball fans everywhere.”

Mastercard is also pleased to welcome MLB as a member of its Priceless Planet Coalition, a reforestation program that aims to restore 100 million trees by 2025 to mitigate climate change. In support of the coalition and celebration of MLB All-Star Game week, Mastercard and MLB auctioned off a visit to the Coors Field ™ Garden including a private cooking class, meet and greet with an MLB legend, and tickets to Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday’s ballpark events for MLB All-Star Week – all proceeds benefiting Priceless Planet Coalition.

Supporting and shining a light on local small businesses in Atlanta, Boston and Los Angeles

In recognition of the challenges faced by small businesses this past year, Mastercard and MLB are launching the Home Team Advantage Small Business Contest* during this year’s All-Star Game to help businesses grow and thrive. Together, Mastercard and MLB are calling on small businesses in Atlanta, Boston and Los Angeles to enter for the chance to win $10,000, a Mastercard Digital Doors™ toolkit, in-stadium assets and a trip for winner and one (1) guest to attend a 2021 MLB® World Series game*.

“While small businesses had to contend with extreme challenges throughout the pandemic, they demonstrated exceptional resilience and determination in the process,” said Cheryl Guerin, EVP Marketing and Communications in North America for Mastercard. “Alongside our partners at MLB, we’re committed to celebrating and supporting the small businesses that serve as the backbone of our communities and are thrilled to provide the resources and digital tools to help them continue to grow and thrive.”

The Atlanta Braves, Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers, will each provide the small businesses in their local markets with prizes and promotional packages including hosting opportunities and customized stadium signage. Finalists in each market will be invited to attend an exclusive dinner event at their local stadium where the winners will be announced.

To help the winners further grow and digitally enhance their businesses, Mastercard will be providing recipients a Digital Doors toolkit inclusive of Mastercard’s Digital Diagnostic, one-on-one mentorship, as well as offers and resources from Jobble, Mastercard Trust Center, Microsoft Advertising, SimplyPayMe, and Zoho. Additionally, the toolkit includes new Mastercard cybersecurity tools developed to help small businesses defend themselves against cyber threats including Mastercard ID Theft ProtectionTM and My Cyber Risk powered by RiskRecon.

*N********************. Void to businesses in specific categories as outlined in the Official Rules and where prohibited. Open to legal U.S. residents (including DC) who are 18+ and the principal owner of a U.S.-based small business (as described in the Official Rules), with its primary offices located in Los Angeles, California, Boston, Massachusetts, or Atlanta, Georgia . Ends 8/1/21. For Official Rules & complete details,